The Royal Gamer
by Spes Aeterna
Summary: Prince Noctis, Chosen King of Kings, enters the Crystal and finds out he is not strong enough to survive his conflict with the Darkness and Ardyn. However, he is given the opportunity to grow stronger, while solving another universe's problems. Will it be enough? *SPOILERS for chapters 13 and 14 of FFXV and Chapter 11 of FFXIII* Rated M for language and themes.


_**Recommend reading with settings on Large Text, 1/2 width, and 5 clicks of spacing between lines. Noctis' POV. Enjoy**_

* * *

This strange empty space in the crystal was… Suffocating, to say the least. The pure, raw magic enveloping me puts Alterna to shame. I have no idea how long I have been floating here. Maybe a few minutes, potentially a few years. The last thing I remember was trying to make the crystal come to life, to bring back Light and push back the Daemons, and then… Him. _Ardyn_. Taunting me, about something that happened to him so long ago. Spiteful Asshole.

"O King of Kings." Came a powerful voice. My body turned by some unseen force, and suddenly, I was staring at one of the last Six I have yet to meet on my journey.

"Bahamut." Just as massive as Titan, except in my opinion, much more cool. It has a dragon's tail, and the wings of his black and gold armor are made of swords, 15 on each side, itself also brandishing one. "The Bladekeeper."

"A power greater than even that of the Six, purifying all by the light of the Crystal and the Glaives of rulers past. Only at the throne can the Chosen receive it, and only at the cost of a life: his own. The King of Kings shall be granted the power to banish the darkness, but the blood price must be paid. To cast out the usurper and usher in dawn's light will cost the life of the Chosen. Many sacrificed all for the King, so must the King sacrifice himself for all." The God's voice rang throughout the realm into all energy around us. "However, even with the Crystal's might, and the Glaives of rulers past, along with your life, the Astrals' life, and the life of all that on Eos, it is not enough. The Usurper, Star Scourge incarnate, has grown too strong. At this point, all is ruined. Our plan has failed. While you are indeed strong, o' Chosen King, you are not strong enough to defeat this darkness."

Well, that's… not exactly heartwarming. "How do I become strong enough? I have all of the Royal Arms, I've felled every Daemon we've come across. What else could I do to become stronger? I can't leave Eos to this fate, Lord Bahamut!" There was silence from the God, a good indicator that I probably shouldn't have yelled at the God of War.

"There is a way… It is very dangerous, The risk is high." Did a God sound uncertain? That wasn't a good sign. Steeling myself, I respond.

"It doesn't matter how dangerous it is. Either way, as it stands now, the Darkness has won, unless we take this risk. I won't let my people, my world down. I am ready." Bahamut was silent again. Was the Draconian mulling things over?

"I see." Bahamut rose its massive hand that I landed on, giving me some form of platform and orientation. With its other hand, it gestured all around us. "This realm of crystals is tied with other universes. This is the Space of Souls, Fabula Nova Crystallis, a location that shows all of the planets and universes souls." It points to one of the smaller nearby crystals, which is a deep dark blue, fading into black. "This is Eos, and as you can see, it is dying. Only one location, Lestallum, is left. The Comrades you have left and Glaives that worked under your Father are currently fighting and holding out for you to return with hope." The Leader of the Six pulled away from Eos and pointed to a further away crystal that was almost completely black. "Using the Crystal's powers, you can travel to this universe. There, a clash of Human and Deity is currently underway. Should one side win, the other will vanish."

That's… some heavy stuff. "So I take it you want me to protect the Deities in this other universe?" Surprisingly to me, Bahamut replied with a negative.

"The Deities in this world are corrupt. They want their own Gods to fall for their plans. Strike them down, and you should receive enough strength to finish this struggle on Eos."

"Wait so, the Deities have Gods? Are… you a Deity? Or a God?" If Bahamut was insulted, neither anger or displeasure was expressed.

"In this universe, The Six are the Gods. At this point, The entity of Darkness is considered a Deity but is slowly encroaching into God territory. You, O Chosen King, are one of the strongest Humans, but still aways from becoming a Deity." That's news to me. As I processed this information, Bahamut continued speaking. "The group that is currently doing most of the fighting are servants of the Deities, called L'cie. The Deities themselves are called Fal'cie. In this Universe, there are petty squabbles about land and their own Gods. The group of L'cie is being ostracized from the rest of the planet. So when you do go, know that you will only interact with those six beings."

So find the L'cie, take down Fal'cie, get stronger, fight Ardyn, Save Eos. Doesn't seem too hard. "Alright. So how do I get there, Draconian?"

"I will handle that. Chosen King of Kings, know that your arsenal will be limited. I can only sustain up to 4 weapons with you for your Armiger. Choose wisely." Well crap.

I look down at my right hand and the Ring of Lucii on it. Its magical capabilities were intense and freed up the other 3 slots for other weapons. The next immediate choice was Father's sword, as one of the Royal Arms, it boasted a unique ability to make every attack stronger than the last, as long as it was equipped. However the power reset upon switching out in the Armiger, and the Stronger it hit, the more energy it sapped from me. Third most was the Lance of the Oracle. A small pang shot through my heart as Luna flashed through my mind. The choice was a mix of fundamental and sentimental, as not only memories of Luna were what it was good for. As another Royal Arm, it boasted the unique ability to make temporary holograms to assist in battle. The last weapon of choice was harder to choose. A gun for my memory of Prompto? Daggers for Iggy? A claymore for Gladio? There was no way I can choose between the three of them...

So why not choose the one I started with? For most of the Adventure with the three of them, I used the Sword my father gave me, The Engine Blade. With the modifications on it made by Cid, it became one of my strongest blades, not to mention the ability to absorb energy and make potions out of said energy. I have chosen and looked up to the God.

"I am ready, Lord Bahamut."

With a solemn nod, Bahamut stared me directly in my eyes. "Stay safe… King Noctis." And with no hesitation, tightened its grip on me, pulled back its arm, and launched me at the near black crystal.

"FUCK, FUCK, FUCK, FUCK!" The crystal that was so far off in the distance was rapidly approaching and was immensely massive, even bigger than Bahamut and Titan combined. The pressure of being tossed that fast is really intense, but as the crystal filled my vision, a new thought entered my mind. 'How was I supposed to be able to enter this crystal?' I was able to pull my arms in front of my face to take the brunt of the impact but instead of solid pain, all I felt was a soothing ooze. I opened my eyes to see a light teal all around me. While it felt like ooze, I was able to move freely, as if it was the open vastness of inside the crystal I was originally pulled in. Soon enough, the ooze feeling went away, and the light teal faded into gray steel. Steel? Uh-oh.

 ***Thunk***

Pain shot up my arms and the rest of my body as I impacted on the floor. "Owww… son of a…" I slowly pushed myself up, only to feel a blade against my neck. "Whoa!" I tensed up feeling the blade press up close, and flicked my wrist, blinking away from the attack and blasting a Holy at the assailant.

"Gah!" came a strong feminine voice. Several footsteps ran up and I quickly got into another blink stance, while also putting my hands up in a sign of peace. I gazed at the group coming towards me, which seemed to be a hodgepodge of people. My assailant seemed to be the woman with pink hair, who was struggling to stand up, using her weapon as a crutch. In front of her were two other others, a man and a woman. The male wore a trench coat and a beanie, and help up his fists in a defensive stance. The female, on the other hand, wore a blue sari and wielded a double-sided lance, which I should mention was pointed right at me. Tending to the wounded assailant were the youngest two of the group, both of which were glowing a soft green. And slowly inching around me was an older man who had two guns. I should probably try and defuse the situation.

"You know, where I come from, people usually say 'Hello' as a greeting." Nothing except for caution in the young boy's eyes changed. The glowing stopped, and the pink haired woman stood up again, flourishing her weapon at me.

"Talk. Now." She demanded. I tilted my head in confusion.

"... about?" A flare of annoyance flashed through her eyes.

"The Magic! You don't have a manadrive on, so how did you cast magic?!"

"Oh, that?" Is magic not common around here without these manadrives? What about those L'cie I'm looking for? Or the Fal'cie? Do they need manadrive? … Better be honest. "I'll answer that, on one condition. Why did you attack me?"

Her eyes furrowed. "Then… you weren't sent after us?"

"Who is 'us'?" Faintly, I heard her curse.

"Then it seems we got off on the wrong foot. Team, stand down." All at once, the group in front of me relaxed, keeping their weapons readily available should need be. However, the other male that was now out of sight still had yet to move. That's fair. I'll keep my blink stance.

"I believe introductions are in order? My name is Noctis Lucis Caelum. It's nice to meet you." I bowed my head slightly.

"I'm Lightning. This is Snow, Fang, Hope, and Vanille." I nodded in understanding and waited for her to finish. She never continued.

"So the guy behind me with the guns doesn't have a name?" A sigh.

"That's Sazh."

"Hey, Sazh," I called back to him, slowly moving to give him a wave. "Hey to you too, Lightning, Snow, Fang, Hope, Vanille."

"Hey." Snow said back. Cool, at least one of them is nice.

"So we told you who we are. How did you do that magic?" I had a feeling that that would happen.

Oh well, either way, got nothing to lose.

"Technically you didn't answer my question. But, I'll let it slide. As King of Lucis, I was gifted the ability to control magic." Apparently, this was the wrong thing to say, as Lightning and Fang both raised their weapons again.

"There is no 'Lucis' on Cocoon."

"Not on Gran Pulse, either." Fang glared at me. "So what's your Focus, then?"

I tilted my head in confusion once more. "Uh… Focus? You mean… like a painting? Or Photography? That's more Prompto's thing…"

So far it seemed as though they took my confusion for genuine, except for Fang and Lightning who were still glaring at me. "Then where's your mark? Which kind of L'cie are you?!"

Are they L'cie haters? They seem really fixated on that. If they are, this isn't the group I need to be with, but I can still get some information from them.

"Kind of L'cie?"

"Are you a L'cie from Cocoon or Pulse?"

"Neither?" I don't think this is going anywhere. "I'm not a L'cie."

"Sazh and Snow! Check him!"

Snow stepped forward slowly. "Please, don't make this more difficult. We- I don't wanna fight you. If you really aren't a L'cie, fighting would be bad." Is that because of you all being L'cie then? I could probably take at least a few of you out, but if this is the group I'm looking for, I'd rather not burn those bridges yet. I sighed.

"So how are you gonna check me?" Snow flushed.

"Uh… well… how about we talk about it around the wall over there? To… uh… give you some privacy."

That was curious. I nodded to them and walked with the two other men. Once behind the wall, Sazh immediately began talking.

"Alright, so I believe you when you say you're not a L'cie. However, I also don't believe your story when you said that you can use magic cause you're a king or something. That place you said, Lucis? That doesn't exist on either Cocoon or Pulse. What's your story, kid?"

"Would you believe me if I said that I never heard of Cocoon or Pulse until a few seconds ago?"

Sazh and Snow looked at me like I grew a second head.

"What planet are you from?" Came from Sazh, most likely not expecting my immediate answer.

"Eos."

"You're crazy." Snow, however, looked thoughtful.

"But Sazh, it might be possible. When me and Light were watching him fall, it was like he just appeared out of nowhere. One second he's there when he just wasn't before." Snow turned from Sazh to look at me. "How'd you get here, Noctis?"

That's easy enough. "Divine Intervention." Not a single answer I have given was false so far, so hopefully, they'll start believing me. Sazh spoke up again.

"What Fal'cie sent you?"

"None. My allies are above these Fal'cie, that much I know. Unfortunately, that's all I know. That and I'm supposed to assist a small group of people. Their names I do not know. Just what their end goal is."

"Whoa, whoa, slow down." Sazh put up his arms in a halting gesture. "First, let us check you for Marks. Then you can tell us your piece, okay?"

I nodded in agreement. "Sounds reasonable. What kinda Mark are you looking for?" With next to zero hesitation, Sazh stretched his shirt to show off an impressive design on his chest. Snow pulled down his bandana on his arm and showed the same exact design. I let out a low whistle.

"That's a real impressive tattoo! But I don't have any ink on me."

Sazh let out a sigh as he explained. "I thought so. This is the mark of a Pulse L'cie." Lightbulb!

"Wait, is your focus to stop the Fal'cie?" Snow nodded in affirmation.

"Let's say we did check the guy for marks. If my guts are right, the Noctis here is on the level of the Fal'cie. Let's go back to the others." With nothing else needing to be said, the three of us walked back to the rest of the group.

Almost immediately, Lightning questioned the two men. "And?"

"He's clean. Not a L'cie. Not from Cocoon or Grand Pulse either."

I got a pointed look from Lightning. "Explain." Internally, I sigh. I'm more used to Ignis, Gladio, or Prompto carrying the conversations. Might as well get practice for when I'm King and my people are safe.

"I hail from the Planet Eos. Because of my status of Chosen King of Kings, I was offered the chance to grow stronger. To do so, I must assist the group of six L'cie who are against the Fal'cie who plan to wake up their Gods. That's the Abridged version of what happened so far. Am I with the correct group?" Just like with the Governor, I have to speak straight and to the point.

That put everyone but Lightning at ease. "You are. So your Gods sent you?"

"More or less. Whether the six of you want me to accompany you or not, our goal is still the same."

"We'll discuss it." And with that, the six all gathered around and began talking amongst themselves. I took that time to sit down. Either way, it's been a while since I've taken a break from fighting. My legs are pretty sore…

* * *

I open my eyes to see light blue ones staring back at me. "Luna?"

"Who?" I blink and instead of my love, Lightning was standing there.

"Oh… sorry. I must have dozed off. Interstellar travel takes it out of you, I guess." Lightning shrugged my words away.

"We will let you come with us, on one condition." I raised an eyebrow and slowly got up.

"Which is?"

"You fight one of us. To prove your strength." If she expected me to be scared, she was going to be disappointed.

"Who?" I ask.

Lightning was slightly surprised. "You pick."

"Alright, You. When do we start?" Her eyes narrowed, as she answered.

"When you're ready." I cracked my neck and stretched.

"Now's good."

"Before we start, I have to ask, why did you pick me?"

"Well," I began, "A few reasons. You seem to be the leader of this ragtag group, meaning you have to be pretty skilled to get that respect. You attacked me the second I got to this world, so a little payback would be nice."

I backed away a bit and flexed my hand, feeling the weight of the Ring on it. Her glare softened, but only slightly. "Ready?"

"Ready."

Almost immediately, Lightning charged at me. I moved into a blink stance and dodged slice after slice. Eventually, I blinked behind her and shot off a Holy, pushing her back and dealing some massive damage. As she flipped forward from the momentum of the blast, her blade morphed and began shooting bullets at me. From the suddenness of the new attack, my shoulder took the first hit as I blinked through the other two. "Oh, it's on now!" I threw my arm out, switching the Ring out with my Engine Blade Mark III. The pink-haired L'cie looked on in surprise, letting me take advantage of it by twirling around and chunking my sword into a random wall. I blinked to the blade, and ripped the sword out of the wall, throwing it again to get to the point behind Lightning. Once more, I pulled the blade out of its temporary scabbard, and with all my might I threw my blade at the L'cie, chasing just after it in my blink form. Just as I grabbed the blade to add more momentum and force to the attack, my target glew a soft yellow and braced herself, as if she knew I was behind her. A second later, my sword pierced her left shoulder.

Lightning's pained scream was deafening and I never felt so bad for sparring with someone. More than half of the blade was sticking out of her shoulder, the poor lighting making the blade look as if it was just pulled out from underwater. I quickly removed the blade, flicking it and starting the Engine part of the weapon. As the engine was going, I reached into my bag and pulled out an elixir. I placed the medicine into her wound, putting enough pressure on the bottle for it to shatter and pour the magical cure-all into the wound itself. By then, Lightning's screams died down, and the group of L'cie had gathered around.

"What.. the hell was that?" came Lightning's voice, filled with both wonder and anger. Best not piss her off more, to make the journey ahead more bearable.

"Which part, exactly?"

"The one where you nearly killed me!" She snapped, her eyes - the same one's as Luna's - glaring at me.

"Killed you? Wait… is your anatomy different from mine?!" For all I know that could be the case, and here, Human hearts could be located somewhere else in the body.

"What? No! That wasn't a regular stab wound, it was draining me of my energy! Not to mention that I had my Steelguard active, and you tore through it like paper!"

"Oh, that? Well, this weapon drains energy from its victims, and due to some engineering from a friend of mine uses that energy to make items." The engine on the weapon stopped. "As a convenient example, some of your energy created a… what?" I pulled the vial out of the blade and looked at the glowing yellow liquid. I've never seen this before, and let the others know that.

"How are you going to find out then? Hope asked what seemed to be on everyone's mind.

"Only one way really," I answered as I uncapped the vial. Before anyone else could object, I took a sip and felt changes to my body take place. Immediately, the wound on my shoulder closed, and all my weariness vanished. Secondly, I felt stronger, more durable than before. A Vitality potion. I smiled as I corked the potion and placed it back in my pouch. "Well, that's awesome. Fortitude potion. Tastes like… mango?"

They all gave me strange looks, before Vanille spoke up, sounding slightly alarmed. "Hey! Where did Lightning's blood go?"

Everyone turned to look at the sword to indeed notice that it was no longer covered in blood. As an answer, I patted my pouch. It took everyone a few seconds before they got it. Hope was the first, whose eyes widened and skin paled. "I think I'm gonna be sick…" He quickly turned and ran to a nearby railing. Everyone else also had varying looks of intrigue and disgust, except for Lightning, who blushed faintly. Why is she blushing? Oh. _I…_ _Oh._ I basically said she tasted good. SUBJECT CHANGE ACTIVATE!

"So, where are we going now?" Almost as eager to change the subject as me, Lightning spoke up.

"We aren't exactly sure. We were just about to continue on the path when you fell from the sky."

Once Hope regained control of his stomach, we continued down said path., and near the end, there was an airship of some type. There seemed to be a glyph of some sort in front of the ship that reeked of power.

"Barthandelus. Looks like we won't have a choice. Sazh, can you see if it's flyable?"

"Ha," came the older male. "I can fly anything soldier-girl. Leave it to me!" Lightning nodded.

"Good. Everyone else, get on. We won't know how sudden the ship will take off, so strap in tight."

Once everyone was on the ship, however, it suddenly roared to life. "Everyone sit down and strap in quick!" Snow yelled as he practically pushed Hope and Vanille into chairs. Fang hoped over one and Sazh and Lightning slid into the front two. Snow looked at me and the last available chair.

"Just get in the chair snow, I took a Fortitude potion, I'll be better off than anyone else." The blond nodded and strapped into the remaining chair. Almost immediately, the ship lifted off and shot toward the glyph. The speed of the ship dramatically increased and the sudden increase of inertia threw me back to the ship, where I face planted into the hull. Unable to move, I could only listen to the oohs and ahhs of Hope and Snow and then suddenly panicked noises. By the time I could move away from the hull, things only went from bad to worse. A giant monster ran into our ship, destroying part of the cockpit. The sudden wind pressure somehow knocked Hope and Vanille out of their chairs and spiraling into the world below.

As Lightning and Fang jumped out to assist the two young group members, I myself jumped out and looked for our assailant. I twirled around in the air and spotted the strange mechanical worm beast above us, seeming to make another pass. I switched to the Oracle's Trident and shot it high above the beast. A blink later and I was holding the weapon again, forcing it down to the beast. With immense force, I severed a good section of the beast off, with only two of its orbs remaining instead of it's original five. As I descended, I saw the group of L'cie slowly fall into a chasm on the back of a dragon? I twirled the Trident around and threw it again toward the group. A few hundred feet away from the L'cie, I see them on the ground near the crashed Airship. Tossing the weapon into the debris, I blink to it and slide down to the group before addressing them. "Everyone okay?"

Snow was the one to answer. "No injuries, just a little shaken." I nod before looking around.

"Then it sounds like we better set up camp."

Unfortunately, I met opposition in the form of Lightning. "Who died and made you the leader?"

"My Father and Fiancé." I glared at her. "Snow, you okay enough to help me look for supplies in the wreckage?" He looked apprehensive between Lightning and me. Eventually, he nodded.

"Cool. You, Hope, and I can set up camp. Vanille? Do you have a weapon?" The younger girl looked surprised to be called upon.

"Um, yeah. It's a binding rod." She explained as she pulled out a stick with what seems to be antlers.

"Binding Rod? I don't think I've seen one of those before." I could only hope that she was adept with it. "We will break the four of you up into two teams. Sazh and Fang, you're team one while Lightning and Vanille, you're team two. You guys are on Hunting Duty. We gotta have some food. Sazh, Lightning, you two are the ranged attackers from what I've seen so far, so you two are distractions for your teammates. Vanille and Fang, you two stay hidden, then strike when they least expect it. Meet back here in an hour, we don't need for anyone to get lost. If you need help, send up a blast of fire magic as high as you can. Break!"

And surprisingly, they all did. Sazh and Fang went towards the North exit and Lightning and Vanille went to the West. Snow made his way into the crashed Airship, leaving me and Hope alone.

"Well, what do you want me to do?" The boy asked.

"I want you to help me forage for vegetables and fruits. We also need to secure drinking water and the immediate area." I gestured to the nearby pond. "However, we need containers for the water, so we can actually purify it. So we wait and see what Snow can find for us."

"You seem to know a lot about survival for a King." Hope made it sound like a statement, but I answered the question anyway.

"I camped with my friends quite a few times with my friends in the past few months or so." With that, I sat down and relaxed. What I learned from running through that fortress is to take breaks when you can. It took a few moments before Hope sat down next to me.

"So... what's it like?"

I tilted my head at him. "Hm?"

"To be a king, I mean."

Oh. "Well, I don't really know to be honest. A few months ago, I was just a Prince, on my way to go marry my Finacé. Then not even a day later, my father, The King, was murdered. Technically as the last royal blood of Lucis, I was considered a King. However, the crystal, the source of magic power that kept the Daemons away from the kingdom, was stolen by the same people that killed my father. I've been on a quest to retrieve the crystal the whole time. Earlier today, at least from what my standards of time are, I was able to find the crystal and entered it to try and get it's magic to start working again. Without the crystal, the world was covered in darkness, allowing Daemons to run wild. There… isn't much for me to rule over right now. I need to fight the epitome of darkness in order for the kingdom to have light again. Only then, will I be the King Of Lucis, at least in my own mind. Until that time, I shall remain Prince." The young man looked contemplative over the abridged version of my story. I heard a low whistle behind me and gazed back to see Snow with an impressed expression upon his face.

"Damn... That's some story!"

"I left out a good chunk of it. Not to mention the Prophecy and the Gods. That's a whole 2 hours at a minimum." The two of them seemed more impressed, but we had to get back on track. "Snow, what all did you find?"

"Oh yeah! I have an emergency tarp, which we can use for shelter and maybe we can use the scrap to make some supplies for us? Like a bowl or a pan?" I nodded in agreement with his thoughts.

"That's a good idea. We have any tools to cut the scrap?" Snow's excited look quickly changed.

"Oh… um… wait, what about magic?" Hope's eyes widened in surprise.

"Why didn't I think of that?"

"Good job Snow. My magic is more suited to complete annihilation so I will leave it to you two. Cut the wall of the ship off, we can attach the tarp to it, and make a tent. I'll go secure the area." After seeing the both of them start, I turned around and took the third pathway the two hunter groups did not take.

After a turn, a cave stood before me. Looking at the entrance, it seemed as though it was really small, but from personal experience, I know that caves can be larger than they appear. I walked in and suddenly a slime like a slug almost as big as Umbra fell down in front of me with a splat. I took a step back only for suddenly more slug slimes to fall behind me and I was surrounded. Pulling out my engine blade, I swung, again and again, trying to clear away the enemies. While a few instantly died from the blade, more just kept assaulting and coming from seemingly nowhere. They continued to swarm, and since I did not have any magic flasks on me, my options were minimal. I switched to the Oracle's Trident and tried to thin them out with long sweeps and stabs. However, no matter how many I slew, two more seemed to take their place. "You guys suck…" Only two options remained for me. Option A: Continue to attack with weapons and hope for them to eventually stop coming. Or Option B: Alterna. And while Alterna is great for swarms of enemies, it also hurt a hell of a lot to use. I swapped to the Ring of Lucii and channeled my will into it.

Raising my arm above my head, I felt my magic tag all of the slimes, and then the pain kicked in. Slowly, my arm began to disintegrate, starting with my fingers, working its way down to my hand. At this point, Crystal dust began to coalesce in the area and a sapphire tint shined from somewhere unknown. The searing pain continued to expand as my arm faded away to my elbow and soon, the pressure reached its peak. I spun around and with heavy force, shoved my arm stump forward causing the world to explode. When my vision returned to me, I could see the remnants of crystal dust, with not a single slime in sight. I brought my arm up to see that my forearm and hand had returned. The pain was still the same but I did my best to tune it out.

"Find the end of the tunnel. Find the end of the tunnel." Was the mantra I used while continuing through the cave. It kept my focus away from the pain. Shortly I found the end of the tunnel, which was semi-surprising. There was a waterfall into a shallow pond, a tree that had seemingly some type of food growing from it, and what seemed to be another path down the ways. As much as I'd like to get the waterfall in our perimeter, I'll stick with it being just outside instead. But now, how to wall off the cave… I'll have to try to get Snow to help. Once I completed the short trek back to home camp, I saw the progress Snow and Hope had made. A firepit was already made and it looks like they were able to remove one of the walls of the ship. Snow waved from on top of the crashed ship while it looked like Hope was testing the water from a nearby stream.

"Yo! Can you stake down the corners of the tarp down there?" I really didn't feel like it, but like Gladio always said, 'No pain, no gain,' and with all the pain I'm feeling, there has to be some gain, right? I nodded to the big man and did as he asked. The way it was positioned had the ship on one side of the chasm, and the tarp on the other, with the fire pit underneath the tarp.

"Isn't smoke gonna be a problem? The way this tent is set up, there's nowhere for the smoke to go."

Snow nodded. "Yeah, I was thinking about that. What about your trident? Could make some small holes above the fire?"

Huh. Didn't think of that. "That will work. You have any extra scrap to make a pan or a pot?" I asked as I did the requested job.

"Probably enough for one. I'll work on that for you." While he seemed to look like a thug, Snow was actually quite dependable.

"Thanks, Snow. HOPE! HOW'S THE WATER COMING ALONG?" I called through the tarp. Faintly I heard the response.

"Good! The stream is fresh water!" Nice! That's one less thing we gotta worry about. After putting enough holes in the tarp to be enough for the smoke to go through, I left the temporary shelter to see Lightning and Vanille coming back with some kind of beast dead in their clutches. Neither of the two women looked injured and Vanille even seemed proud.

"King Noctis! We managed to get some lunch!"

"Nice job you two! And please Vanille, just Noct is fine. You're my friend, not one of my people." The smile on the youngest woman grew widely as they got closer to the base camp.

Lightning nodded in what I hoped was an appreciation of the campsite. "Nice work. This will be a good place to recover."

"Actually, I didn't do any of this. I was securing a different area. It was all Snow and Hope." The look on Lightning's face was a mixture of disbelieving and surprised.

"Is that Light?" Came Snow's voice. He exited the shelter with a finished makeshift pot in hand. "WOO! Food! Sweet, I can go test out this bad boy!" Before Light or I could respond, Vanille spoke up.

"I'll make sure he doesn't burn it." It was said with such confidence, that I had no reason to argue otherwise.

"So it actually was him? And Hope?" Was it really that hard to believe?

"Speaking of other areas, how was yours? How far away was it till the monster thing? What do you call those?"

"Gorgonopsid." Lightning Answered. "It took a bit till we could find any beast, so we should be good from that way." I nod.

"I'll take your word for it. All that's left is Sazh and Fang's route. So that leaves only a few things left for us to do before we call it a night." I shot her a tentative glance. "Care to give me a hand?" It seemed like the last thing she'd want to do, but she accepted anyway.

"What are we doing first?" Came her voice from behind me as we walked through to the cave.

"I'd like your opinion, as you are the leader of your group." This seemed to take Lightning by surprise as she was silent for a few seconds before her response.

"What about?"

"This," I explained as we exited the cave. I gestured to the pond and its waterfall. "I was thinking, do we secure this end of the cave and use this as a bathing spot? Or do we secure the next path over there and use it as a bathing spot?"

"What makes you think we need a bathing spot?" She asked while raising an eyebrow.

"What makes you think we don't need one?" I returned with my own eyebrow raise.

"It would just be a distraction, we need to focus on what to do next and then tackle it head-on."

I nod in acknowledgment. "That's a good point, but I'll do one better." I took a breath as if to go on a long-winded spiel. "Morale."

"What?" She seemed moderately surprised. Using a throwaway comment from Sazh about Soldier girl, I figured she might have some more military thought process than anything else.

"If the troops aren't properly motivated, they are less likely to give the objective their all. So we let everyone bathe, get a good night's rest, and in the morning tackle our objective." I gave her my 'Winning'™ smile, only to see her eyes unfocused and staring off into the distance. "Uh… Lightning? You okay?"

After waving a hand in front of her face a few times, she did a little jolt, and I saw her eyes refocus. "It seems I still got a ways to go. I haven't been a very good leader it seems." She closed her eyes and seemed to steel herself, before turning her gaze to me. "I relinquish command to you, King Noctis."

"Whoa whoa whoa!" I took a step back. "Say what? I wasn't critiquing you, I was just-"

"Looking out for the troops, something I have barely done." I was about to retort but I noticed her eyes. Luna's eyes. Pleading silently, to just let it go like she did when they were in the strange aftermath of Leviathan. When she died.

I sighed. "I'll do it. Captain Lightning, you are hereby relieved from duty." I gave her a pretend salute, and saw the relief in her eyes, with the beginnings of a smile on her face that was quickly cut down.

"That's one heck of a promotion."

Oh? I was right? "You're in the military?" A tilt of her head, before she saluted as well.

"Sergeant Farron, relieved of duty." I chuckled before it was overtaken by a scream. "From Camp?!"

Lightning began to run towards it with me right behind her. That was a panicked scream, and rather high. I don't imagine Fang's voice being that high, so most likely belonging to Vanille, potentially Hope, as he does seem to be in the middle of puberty.

By the time I reached the end of the cave, Lighting and the rest of the group were gathered around someone. "Farron, Status report!" I demanded as I barged in between everyone. Sazh was in the middle of the circle on his back with a massive hole in his stomach. He was barely conscious.

"Behemoth stabbed him with its horn. Fang cast slow on him to prevent from bleeding to death and sent a few cures to him to keep him alive. He… doesn't have long."

Fuck right he doesn't. Got a huge fucking hole in his chest. "All of you can heal?" Nods form the party. "Get to it. Can any of you heal poison?" I see Vanille nod out of the corner of my eye. "Start doing it. Stomach acid in the bloodstream is some kind of poison." I saw a glow of green light and started digging into my coat. "Sazh, can you talk to me?"

"Noct...is? Sorry…"

"Hey pal, don't worry about it. So Sazh, before all this, what did you do for a living?" The man coughed.

"I was a… pilot. Used to… fly ships…"

"That's really cool Sazh. What was your favorite, place to fly to?" I finally found an elixir stored away in my subspace. I uncorked the magical potion and started to slowly pour it onto the massive wound.

"I… liked Bodhum the most. Dajh… really enjoyed… the bea…" He's drifting off!

"Keep talking to me Sazh! Who is Dajh?"

"M… my son… he's 6… His… birthday is soon. I got him a ch-Chocobo-chick."

"Oh really? Then it sounds like you need to get this done quick then, right? Gotta make sure Dajh sees his old man on his birthday. Right?"

"He's… crystal now."

"Well then I gotta fix that too, don't I!?" I felt a sudden surge of power. My Armiger is ready. I don't have my surplus of weapons, but I do have a bunch of potions and such stocked up.

Not bothering to question if it would work or not, I activated my Armiger. Surrounding me, instead of the Royal Arms, was Potions, Hi-Potions, Elixirs, and Hi-Elixirs. So, like any rational person with magic powers, I started abusing them. I started to throw bottle after bottle into the wound, the class containers dissolving from the magical fluid. A solid minute of throwing the magic potions went by before my Armiger faded away. I looked to Sazh's face and his eyes were closed. No. The hole in his chest was gone, but elixirs, while indeed magical, can't restore blood loss. "No…" I heard a soft gasp behind me and refused to look back at the others. I felt for his pulse. Or rather, his lack of. "No… Nononononono! NO!" I began to beat on the dad's chest. "Not today, you son of a bitch! You are NOT doing this! Not to Dajh!" _Not to me,_ was left unsaid. I moved to try and get his pulse going again, but this time my arm catches on something. I turn to snarl at whatever was stopping me, only to stop at what I see. It's Vanille's face, covered in tears. Only then do I hear sounds other than my furious thoughts. Crying. Hope, Snow, and Vanille are outright bawling, Fang is trying to hide her tears and Lightning is facing away. And Sazh is…

"Please…" Vanille got out before she sobbed harder. Please what, stop? I wanted to ask, to scream, to shout. But I refrained.

"I couldn't save my father… I couldn't save the people of Insomnia. I couldn't save Luna!" My face is hot and burning. "I COULDN'T SAVE EOS! BUT SAZH? SAZH I CAN SAVE!" Now my anger has transcended into pure focus. "SNOW!" He flinched but nodded anyway. "Get a long tube from the scrap. Sanitize it. Lightning, help me find his ID Card. We need to find out his blood type." Almost immediately, Lightning was going to work, scavenging his pockets while Snow went to find a piece of scrap.

"You three, what are your blood types?" The looks of confusion on Fang's and Vanille's faces were answers enough. "Hope?" The boy was shaking a lot and was trying to open what I believe to be his wallet. "HOPE!" He jumped in fright. "Breathe. Relax. Get your ID. Find your blood type." Soon enough I got an answer.

"O+"

"Oh HELL yes!" I turned to Lightning. "Any lu-"

"AB-" she cuts off and my heart rate skyrockets.

"By the Six, we can save him!." Thudding footsteps from behind me notified me of Snow's return. "Snow! You got something!?"

"You bet!" He handed it to me. "But how do we sanitize it?"

I glared at him. "Same way you cauterize a wound."

"Fire! Shit, Sazh was the best at fire magic."

"Is the best. He is the best." I corrected him. "Need to think. Lightning? Please tell me your name is also your best magic?"

"I'm good enough." It'll have to do.

"CPR then, please. 100 BPM, is the pace. 5 thrusts with electricity on the last, like a defibrillator. Hope, is there a way to make you immune to electricity?"

He nodded and the faint green aura around him turned purple. "Fantastic. Lightning, make sure you keep oxygen flowing. It'd be shit if he came back to life brain dead. I'll blast a small Holy on the tube to sanitize it. It's not optimal, but it's the best we got." With the pipe now sanitized and inserted into one of Sazh's veins, all that was left was Hope. "Hope, I need you to not panic. Focus on me this entire time okay? Look directly into my eyes and nowhere else, okay?" The boy nodded.

I took my engine blade and made a small nick on his arm, enough to let Hope's Blood slip into Sazh's body. "Ignore that. So Hope, Let's distract you. Tell me about yourself."

"Uh… about what?"

"Well's what's favorite color?"

"T-teal. And yours?"

"Mines not far off. Turquoise."

"Really? But I thought-"

"Black right? I get that a lot. Black is what all members of the Crownsguard, Kingsglaive, and Royal Family wear."

"That's kinda cool."

"So, before this whole L'cie thing, what were your hopes? Dreams?" I glance down at the tube, and can still see the blood flowing properly.

"Oh! Um.. well, I wanted to change the world someway. For the better, you know?" I was slightly taken aback.

"That's pretty mature of you Hope. I'm impressed."

"Thanks…"

"So how old are you, Hope?"

"15"

"Oh damn, Glad I didn't put Gil on it." This seemed to put Hope more at ease.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You look like 14."

"Hey!" I laughed, which caused the group to de-tense, if only slightly.

"So Hope, tell me about your family."

"W-well, I'm an only child. There's my father, Bartholemew Estheim. He's some government head for designing technology. He was usually at work more than home. I used to hate him. But not anymore. Then… there's my mother, Nora Esthiem. She was… great. Always kind, Always understanding, Always willing to help others. She was killed… During the Purge."

"She sounds like she was a wonderful lady." Here the boy nodded. "Lightning? Status?"

There was silence, assuming she was currently breathing into Sazh's lungs. "Nothing ye- A pulse! WE GOT A PULSE!" I let out a giddy laugh.

"Ladies and gentlemen, he's back!" Everyone cheered loudly, at the success. "All that's left is time. Hope, do you feel dizzy at all?" He looked apprehensive before nodding.

"Sorry…" I gave him a light punch on the arm, which removed the tube from the boy as intended.

"Don't apologize. You could cause a panic and then we'd have to figure out what to do for you." Hope seemed conflicted, and before anything else could be said, Snow flashed green and healed Hope's wound.

"I'm not as good as you or Vanille with it comes to healing, but I can fix a cut."

I turned and removed the tube from Sazh, reaching into my jacket once again. "He's breathing now too. Lightning, good job. Go and rinse off your hands. Fang? Can you go grab some of the food Snow was preparing? Sazh can have my portion." Not turning to see if she accepted my request, I finally found what I was looking for. Mega Phoenix.

Crushing it, the entire group was covered in a warm red glow, and the moment the glow faded, Sazh groaned. "Easy there buddy, Lay down and relax. Fang's getting you some food. Eat up and then rest, okay?" The father grunted, so I'll take that as a yes.

I got up and went over to Vanille. "You okay? I'm sorry if I was rude earlier."

Her face had tear stains on it, but she smiled anyway. It didn't meet her eyes. "It's alright. I was just scared." I placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Everything is 'meh' right now, so don't worry too much. Leave it to me." I turned to leave until she stopped me.

"You're… not going to say it's okay?"

"Why would I?" I looked back at her. "Only once everything is done, will everything start to be okay. So don't fret, alright?"

*Page Break*

Soon enough, everything had settled down and everyone was back under the tent, with Sazh now reclining in one of the two savaged chairs.

"Everyone, I have a request." The idle chatter stopped as Lightning spoke up. "I… know I haven't been the best leader to you all." Snow and Hope were about to say something, but Lightning pressed on. "I'm not talking about my success as a leader, but I am talking about my… caring aspect. As you have guessed, and most likely thought, I'm… emotionally distant. So I am turning my leadership over to Noctis. Any Objections?" Silence all around. No one really looked happy or sad about the declaration, and for some reason that was sad to me.

"So, the first order of business." I chimed in, hoping to salvage the mood from earlier. "I say that we deserve a reward. Who wants to take a bath?"

Different sounds of approval sounded throughout the campsite. "All right so, first things first, who here cares about nudity?" A few blushes came from Vanille, Hope, Snow, and Lightning. Sazh didn't seem to care, both from his age and his pain probably, while Fang was more intrigued by the bath. "Got it, so separate gendered baths. I'll keep watch both times, and take my own afterward. Objections?"

"Actually, yes." Lightning started. "Why not just bathe with the guys?"

"I'll be keeping watch. As you saw, the area could be open to monster attacks. I'll fight them off if they come."

"Who is going to be on watch for you?"

"I'll be fine on my own. I've fought naked before, I can do it again." That brought some confused looks, which I pointedly ignored.

"At the chance of it being a strong monster, I insist you take someone as watch for your turn."

"Well, since you seem so invested in my safety, you can be on watch." Lightning didn't seem to be too bothered by it, so I switched topics. "Normally I'd vouch for the ladies to go first, but given Sazh's situation, I suggest the men can go first." Sazh was about object causing Fang to speak up for the first time in a while.

"Just shut up and go 'Funny Man'. We'll watch camp for you, ya?" Sazh just sighed before struggling to get out of the chair. Hope and Snow went to the man and supported him, escorted him out of the tent.

I turned to the ladies of our group before bowing. "Please, be careful." And with that, I followed the men.

"Yo," Snow said as I walked up next to them. I nodded as I checked ahead, seeing that the coast was clear of monsters. I waved them forward, out of the cave.

"It's clear. Sazh, how do you feel?" As the three staggered forward, Sazh answered.

"Grateful. Sore. Nothing a warm bath won't fix." I laughed in agreement.

"Lemme check the temperature, see if it's actually bath worthy." While the three slowly moved to the water, I was able to quickly to see if it was… "Ice cold. Maybe 50°." Hope looked at me incredulously.

"That's insanely hot! It's not boiling, but it's halfway there."

I 'tsk'd, and flicked my gaze over to him. "Looks like we have different forms of measuring temperature. We would need to heat this up some."

Hope nodded. "I can do that, While I'm not at Sazh's level, I still have some good skill with magic."

I raised an eyebrow before gesturing for him to take care of it. The young boy flashed blue and stood still for only a moment, before throwing an arm out. "Firaga!" a small red orb flew out of his hand and once the orb sunk beneath the water's surface, it exploded in a massive inferno beneath the water. I flinched away from the heat.

"If that's 'some good skill' I'd hate to see very good." I deadpanned while checking the temperature. "Impressive 96°. No fish popping up either. We won't have to worry about Pops here catching a cold. Go ahead and relax."

I took my spot on a rock to keep watch as the others got undressed and into the pond. "Ahh~" Came from Snow. "Man, It feels great to finally relax and de-stress."

"I feel you there. Feels like I've been moving non-stop this whole time!" Sazh gave a sad sigh. I turned to look at the far cave exit that we never took, gazing to see if any beasts were trying to sneak up on the group. I heard Hope speak to the others as I kept my watch.

"So… what are your plans after this?"

"This whole Fal'cie business? Well, once we rescue Sarah and Dajh, I got a wedding to do. Speaking of that, Sazh, do you think Dajh will want to be the flower boy?"

"Whoa - wait, what? You… want my little boy to be in your wedding?"

"Of course. You and Hope too. I need a groomsman and a ring bearer."

Sazh sounded at a loss for words. "I don't know how to feel about that."

"Well, you don't have to answer right away. Hey Noct!" I glanced back at Snow quickly before resuming watch.

"Yeah?"

"Can you marry me and my fiancé?" Can I? I spoke my thoughts out loud.

"I don't see why not. I've seen dad do it enough."

"Sweet!" Snow celebrated.

"What about you, Sazh?" Came from the younger L'cie.

"Mostly just look after Dajh." Was the simple response. "I just want to keep him safe."

"That's a good goal to have. Wanting to protect what is yours." I chimed in looking at the sky to judge the time. Approximately 10 more minutes until the girls' turn.

"Noct? What about you?"

What about me? After I get strong enough to fight the darkness and win… "Probably go try to fix my kingdom. Heck, my whole world. Any form of structure left is in Lestallum, who has always been almost 100% self-sufficient. The Empire was all turned into Daemons, and my kingdom of Insomnia was taken over by the Empire and then the Daemons. The Country of Altissia was destroyed by Leviathan and the Empire. I was rambling, I noticed, and stopped before I ruined the atmosphere any more than I already have. "Sorry, didn't mean to bring down the mood."

It was silent for a few moments. "Noct… If you ever need to talk, you can come to me, okay? It may not be extremely helpful, but getting to vent might help you in multiple ways." I took a breath and nodded.

"Thanks, Sazh. You guys go ahead and start drying off. Times moving a lot faster than I thought. I'll stay here and keep watch as I said. Just sent them on their way." I stood up from the rock and stretched, before starting a quick once around the area. Whenever I finished, I saw Sazh and Hope over at the entrance of the cave, the older man able to walk on his own now, but still slower than Hope and Snow. Snow, on the other hand, was at the rock I stood watch on.

"Yo!"

"Yes, Snow?" The big man looked embarrassed.

"Hey man, I just wanted to thank you."

Thank me? "What for?"

"Well… Light and Hope have been… happier, I guess. Or… maybe more optimistic. Light's relieved not to be in charge more and Hope actually seems to have hope. That beast that crashed our ship? According to Fang, that was a Pulse Fal'cie called Dahaka. We only fought one other Fal'cie before and we barely made a scratch on it. You on the other shad, cut off pieces of it. That's more than what we have done combined. Heck, you even brought Sazh back to life with, whatever you did, and by taking control of the situation!"

"I uh… just watched enough T.V. to know the basics. If I didn't know about blood-types, nothing would have happened.

"Either way… thanks, man." And with that he ran off, passing the ladies of the group. Fang waved as they got closer.

"Hey, your Highness!" I rolled my eyes.

"Fang, please, it's just Noctis." She waved me off.

"Whatever! It's been what, a few days since my last bath!" Vanille looked shocked.

"When did you get to take a bath!?" Fang raised a hand to her chin and looked contemplative.

"Before we went to rescue you and Funny-Man."

"It's been literally millennia since I have! So unfair…"

I waved my hands to get their attention. "Whoa, whoa. Time Out! Millennia? As in a thousand years? You look 19!" Fang and Vanille looked sheepish.

"It's a long story." Lightning cut in.

"Understandable but… whatever. I'll be on the rock. Enjoy yourselves." Before I could even turn away, Fang started undressing. The moment her cleavage was more revealing, I had thrown Luna's Trident up and behind me before blinking to it.

While I would be okay with nudity in the case of extreme emergencies, such as Daemon Attack, for something like bathing, I refuse to look at anyone's indecency. That's between people with a special bond. As I did not throw the weapon at a specific location that I was focusing on, the Trident only went a few feet, and Fang's booming laughter wasn't hard to hear. "What's wrong, 'Your Highness'? Never seen a woman in all her glory?" The Pulsian guffawed.

I felt the blood rush to my face. "No, actually. Go ahead and wash up, we don't have much time until the sun sets." I waved back at them and put all of my focus into keeping watch.

"Wait, what?" Came from Fang. "You… don't have a Harem?" The blush from earlier struck back again. I've heard, or rather, seen that word in one of the novels I borrowed from Gladio. It was rather… risqué.

"No, I don't. The last Ruler of Lucis to have a Harem was 'The Just Queen'. It's been a few decades since she was alive."

"Oh…" was Fang's sullen reply. There was the sound of water as assumedly the three entered the temporary bath. "Uh… Sorry about that. From what I remember, the Kings of Pulse always had Harems eager to throw themselves at them."

"But wait," Interrupted Vanille, "What about your Fiancé?"

Luna's smile graced my vision temporarily, vanishing in an instant. "No. We've never even kissed. It was… an Arranged Marriage. She was my best friend ever since we were little." By now my blush faded. While the mood was dampened, I felt a weight leave my chest.

"That's cute. Childhood friends, falling in love!" Vanille gave a quiet squeal, causing me to laugh.

"My Father probably would've said the same." If the world wasn't ending any time soon, he probably would've been ecstatic.

"And your Mother?" Lightning questioned, joining in on the conversation.

"I'm… not too sure. She was killed when I was little. Assassination attempt on my life. I'd like to think she'd be excited." It turned silent and I could only imagine what the expressions on their faces could be. I heard water moving, and then felt arms around me. The skin was too light to be Fang's and too dark to be Lightning's, so that left Vanille who was hugging me tightly.

On some level, I was exceedingly disappointed that I had my shirt and jacket on, as she pulled me into her embrace. On the other hand, I felt my face flush, and my eyes began to tingle. "We will never know what the lost may feel… but we can always ask the people we found." Several images flashed through my head.

Luna and I in a field of flowers, my Dad getting out of his car to get me from school, meeting Prompto in Elementary school and again in High School, being introduced to Gladio, tasting Ignis's food for the first time, meeting Iris, breaking down in the Regalia, running into Cid and Cidney. The damn nearly broke. I'm supposed to be on watch, I can't let this let this distract me. These people are counting on me.

I gently patted Vanille's arm before whispering to her. "Thank you, Friend." Soon she let go of me and turned back to the bath. I gazed upwards, trying to judge the time by the light. "You have maybe seven more minutes."

The rest of the time passed peacefully, and only once was I tempted to peek because of squealing. I prevailed, however, and soon enough, all the women were dressed. Both Vanille and Fang left, and Lightning came up to me. "Thank you."

With just that, it could have meant anything. "For?"

The Soldier girl shook her head, in exasperation.

"Being on watch. And for not peeking."

"Oh.. Not a problem. I only hope nothing happens on your watch." With a smile, I removed my Jacket as she took her place on the rock I was using.

I finished undressing and got into the water,

Sighing in relief as the dirt on my body was slowly removed by the liquid. It wasn't perfect, not by any means, but considering that I spent nearly the past few days without removing any of the dirt, it was a glorious feeling.

Until a giant hand came out of the sky. "Nocis MOVE!" I faintly heard as my heart was beating fast. One second, everything was fine, and the next I was almost crushed.

I was barely able to move away, the water slowing my movements. Just inches away from me, the hand impacted the ground, sending me back into the water. By the time I resurfaced, I noticed that Lightning also fell from her position. I was more than a little ticked off at this point.

"Hey, asshole! What the fuck!?" With a flick of my wrist, I summoned my Engine Blade Mark III and stabbed into the wrist of the giant hand. There was a massive roar, then my sword was forced out of the wrist and suddenly the giant hand was attached to a giant body.

"Oh man, WHAT?"

"Noctis we need to go! Now!" Now was not the time to worry about pride. Enemies such as this and the Adamantosie that I slew with Prompto, Iggy, and Gladio, took time to plan against. I followed her instructions, got out of the pond, picked up my clothes, and booked it to the cave.

I activated the engine part of the weapon, and sat down, still reeling from what happened. Water clung to my body as I tried to pat myself dry so I could at least put on my underwear. "Lightning, run away, see if the rest are okay. I'll dry off." I looked up to see her blushing face. "Lightning! Focus!" She shook her head and took off. Eventually, I was able to put up to my pants on and made my way to camp, where everyone looked slightly panicked.

"Noctis! Oh, you're okay!" Came Vanille's voice as she ran out of the tent to check on me.

"Back in the tent, we go guys, Group meeting." As we all gathered around, my blade stopped its engine, and a silvery liquid was in the potion bottle. "So, resident experts on Pulse, Fang, Vanille, any idea what is going on?"

Vanille shrugged, looking just as clueless as the rest of us, but Fand looked apprehensive.

"It may have been Titan."

"Titan?" Sazh asked, voicing my own question.

"The Fal'cie that governs over Natural Selection, endlessly taking weak monsters and turning them into new ones."

It took me a few moments to piece it together. "The makes sense, I'm not from this universe, so I'm an unknown. It would want to make me a known. Got it."

The others seemed extremely surprised on how easily I took this observation. "How are you so calm? The God of the Cycle of Life wants you dead!" Sazh's reasoning was sound but he missed a Fatal flaw in there.

"I've fought Gods before. Gods have tried to kill me before. I've bested those same Gods. This Fal'cie is no God. A Diety, yes certainly, but no God."

"He's not wrong." Lightning spoke up. "There's Etro, Lindzei, Pulse, and Bhunivelze." I filed that information away for later, as I grabbed the potion from my weapon and drank it to recover from my run in with death.

"Hey, where'd that potion come from?" Hope asked.

"Titan I think?" Lightning answered.

Fang looked concerned. "I don't think that it's a good idea to drink Fal'cie blood." I finished the last of the tasteless substance and set the bottle down.

"It'll be fine. Seemed kinda like a thicker wat-" My voice suddenly cut out. That's not good. I rose a hand to my throat and tried talking again. Nothing. I tried to make eye contact with anyone, to let them know something was wrong, but my head wasn't listening to me. My body wasn't listening to me. My legs went numb. I was falling forward. What's happening to-?

* * *

Suddenly my awareness returns to the sound of people talking.

"How long has it been since we left Cocoon? Hm? Not a single soul for miles around, not a single clue about this whole L'cie mess! What I'm saying is, we did well just to get this to get this far."

"But… we could go a little further."

"Meaning?"

"There's still one place…"

"Vanille! Are you sure?"

"I am."

"You know, if we don't find anything this time, we won't get another chance." I faintly hear movement of some kind. My eyes won't open and my body still won't listen.

"Oerba. The place it all began. The place where the Pulse Fal'cie lay dreaming. Vanille and Fang's home. Just maybe… it will be the place where we find the answers we're looking for."

My consciousness blinked. And suddenly the tone shifted. Seconds could've passed, or maybe hours.

"We understand. You're not gonna go through this ordeal alone, you know." That's Lightning's voice. I could also hear soft sobbing.

"But that's what scares me! I don't…" Hope? "I don't want to see you get hurt because of me! It would be better if I just stayed behind." I felt a sudden surge of energy build up near me, heard a ping, and suddenly felt weightless. My back slammed into the steel interior of the crashed ship, and then gravity took control, causing me to fall to the floor. Pain shot through my body.

 ***PING***

"Mention Ordeals, and look what comes along!" That was Fang.

"This is not an ordeal, this is a gift! Hope, this is the kind of power you've got inside, and it's telling you not to give up! Trust me." Lightning spoke that time.

"Oh, I get it! It's here to show you the way. Show it that you've got what it takes to get back on your feet and do this thing!"

"You mean, that came from me?" Slowly, I felt my body respond to me, as I was able to stand up and open my eyes. From what I could see, Fang, Lighting, and Hope were standing at the edge of the remnants of the tent, as half the tarp was blown off. The rest of the group must be collapsed somewhere. That wasn't what took precedence, however. Two pop-ups were in front of me.

 *** A SKILL HAS BEEN CREATED THROUGH A SPECIAL ACTION! THROUGH THE ENDURANCE OF PAIN AND DAMAGE, THE SKILL 'PHYSICAL ENDURANCE' HAS BEEN CREATED!***

 *** A SKILL HAS BEEN CREATED THROUGH A SPECIAL ACTION! BY FOCUSING ON THE FEELING OF PERIL, THE SKILL 'SENSE DANGER' HAS BEEN CREATED!***

What in the fuck? I rubbed my eyes with my hands to try to make them go away. They were still there. I tried to push my hand through the two windows only for a new one to pop up.

 ***QUEST ALERT: HOPE FOR HOPE! BECAUSE OF HOPE'S LACK OF HOPE, HIS EIDOLON, ALEXANDER, HAS BEEN SUMMONED. HELP HOPE CONTROL THE EIDOLON!**

 **WIN: 80,000 EXP, 20,000 GIL, SKILLBOOK, INCREASED CLOSENESS WITH HOPE, INCREASED CLOSENESS WITH LIGHTNING, INCREASED CLOSENESS WITH FANG, INCREASED CLOSENESS WITH SNOW, INCREASED CLOSENESS WITH VANILLE, INCREASED CLOSENESS WITH SAZH, INCREASED CLOSENESS WITH ETRO.**

 **LOSS: DEATH, MANKIND IN UNIVERSE ERADICATED, MANKIND IN EOS ERADICATED.**

 **ACCEPT?***

Son of a bitch. An explosion rocked the side of the ship and I had no other choice but to press the only button available, labeled 'accept', as I ran outside the ship. From what it looks like, from the Windows popping up, the Quest announcement, and what seems to be a boss fight from that sudden pressure and shouting, I think I figured out what that Potion from Titan did.

My life turned into a game.

* * *

 _ **AN:/ Hello all! One of my recent top fan-fic tropes that's popped up recently is that of The Gamer being added into character scenarios. And with me being disheartened by the end of FFXV, figured this would be a nice way to give a new possibility to Noctis' future.**_

 _ **A reminder that I have Pat re on! (I have to spell it that way, or the word gets removed.) Please considered becoming one to help me entertain y'all!**_

 _ **Spes Aeterna**_


End file.
